10 Facts about Brooklyn that will blow your mind

Brooklyn is a borough of New York City, which borderlines with Kings County. It is NYC’s most populous borough, with an estimated 2,504,700 residents in 2010. Brooklyn is very interesting for visitors with its bridges and tunnel connections to the borough of Manhattan. Brooklyn is a fascinating destination to visit and an exciting place to live in.  It is one of the “it” places in the USA right now with its neverending possibilities. There are so many interesting facts about Brooklyn. Maybe they will even make you consider moving there, by using the services of Dorothy And Martha Moving Brooklyn. Who knows? So, stay tuned for the 10 facts about Brooklyn that will blow your mind.

Two history facts about Brooklyn that you might find surprising

Brooklyn was settled by the Dutch in the 17th century

In the early 1600s, Brooklyn was originally called Breuckelen, which means “Broken Land” in Dutch. Therefore, the borough’s official motto is Een Draght Mackt Might, which in Old Dutch means “In unity, there’s strength”.

Once upon a time, Brooklyn was a city

In the 19th century, Brooklyn was a city. But, in 1898, Brooklyn merged with New York City. In spite of this, Brooklyn is in a sense its county. It’s land borders are the same as those of Kings County. Today, even though not a city, Brooklyn can offer so many services, for example, fine art transport services.

Other three unique facts about Brooklyn

Besides the historical facts that we find interesting and educative, there is more. Especially when it comes to the facts about Brooklyn concerning its population and geographic characteristics.

Brooklyn is larger than Manhattan

We bet you didn’t know that Brooklyn is larger than Manhattan, both in terms of land area and population. In 2014, Brooklyn had 2,621,793 residents to Manhattan’s 1,636,268. Therefore, Brooklyn is the second-most densely populated county in the United States. Also, Brooklyn has 71 square miles of land and Manhattan has 23. The conclusion is that, if it were a city, Brooklyn would be the fourth largest city in the USA.

Another fact about Brooklyn- it isn’t a part of Long Island

Here is a confusing fact about Brooklyn. Although Brooklyn is on Long Island, it isn’t considered part of Long Island. This might not be news to you if you grew up in the Northeast. But many people across the country are unaware that Brooklyn and Long Island share the same landmass.

When talking about facts about Brooklyn that will blow your mind, we can’t leave out the Brooklyn Bridge facts

There’s no doubt that you’ve heard about the Brooklyn Bridge. It is a hybrid cable-stayed bridge in NYC. It connects the boroughs of Brooklyn and Manhattan, across the East River. There are several fun facts about this bridge that maybe you haven’t heard about.

• It is one of the oldest roadway bridges in the United States of America.
• It is the world’s first steel-wire suspension bridge, as well as the first fixed crossing across the East River.
• When it is extremely cold outside, the Brooklyn Bridge rises approximately three inches. The reason is simple. The cables contract and expand, eventually causing the rising.
• In 2006, a Cold War bomb shelter was found hidden under the bridge. Some city workers discovered it during a structural inspection. The bomb shelter was filled with medical supplies, water drums, blankets and 352,000 packets of crackers.

Here are four random facts about Brooklyn that will blow your mind

1. Maybe it sounds like a surprise, but there are 30 miles of shoreline in Brooklyn. You can find nice beaches in and around the borough.
2. The median age of a Brooklyn resident is 34.7, which is two years younger than the national median of 36.8.
3. Brooklyn has around 700 cultural and arts institutions. The most famous ones are The Brooklyn Museum, New York Transit Museum, and Barclays Center. Also, there are Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Historical Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum.
4. Brooklyn was once called the “Coffee Capital”. By 1906, there were about 25 million pounds of coffee roasted at the Arbuckle Brothers coffee factory monthly.

Last, but not least. Here is the tenth fun fact about Brooklyn.

A teddy bear was invented in Brooklyn. Morris Michtom, a Brooklyn shopkeeper, and his wife Rose have invented it. At the time, it was called a “Teddy’s bear“. The name came from Theodore Roosevelt who reportedly refused to shoot a bear on a hunting trip.

And here are some bonus fun facts about Brooklyn

• Brooklyn owns an iconic Cyclone rollercoaster. The wooden coaster opened on June 26, 1927, at Coney Island. It became a New York City landmark in 1988 and added to the National Register of Historic places in 1991.
• In 1867, Charles Feltman has invented the hot dog at Coney Island. Afterward, his former employees opened the famous ‘Nathan’s’.
• That same year, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert B. Vaux created Prospect Park. It is Brooklyn’s largest public park consisting of 585 acres. These same men designed Central Park.
• There are many celebrities from Brooklyn. For example, Woody Allen, Jay Z, Michael Jordan, Spike Lee, Eddie Murphy, and many others.
• Did you know that the Brooklyn Dodgers, now the Los Angeles Dodgers, went by several different names? Originally, they were the Brooklyn Grays. Then, they changed their name to Brooklyn Bridegrooms and finally the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. The Dodgers refers to when Brooklyn was full of streetcar lines. Because the pedestrians were unaccustomed to fast-moving vehicles, they were often struck and killed. That’s why they had to learn how to dodge the trolleys.
• There are many great date-night spots in Brooklyn.

Conclusion

After you’ve found out about these 10 amazing facts about Brooklyn that can blow your mind, there’s one thing left. If you haven’t already, visit this magnificent borough and enjoy all the perks it has to offer. Have fun!